It's December...

 

Well, the last month of 2025 is now upon us. Time to try and finish off a couple of 2025 reading challenges and just read. I've got a couple of year end appointments, dental, eye check-up and I should get the car in for a winter tune-up. (Ya think!) And Jo is preparing for surgery at the end of the month. 😑😔

Anyway. How about books?

I've completed one so far in December. I'm not going to have more than 2 on the go at one time for the rest of the month. 

Completed Books

(I've completed 3 since my last update)

1. The West Passage by Jared Pechacek (2024 / Fantasy). Such an enjoyable read.

"I thought I'd try The West Passage by Jared Pechaček because it was nominated for the Ursula K. Le Guin award. I'm glad that I did. What a wonderful, imaginative fantasy story. Pechacek has created a fascinating world filled with interesting beings and creatures. It's got a gentleness to it, but at the same time there is a Beast coming and people you like are getting killed all over the place. The Ladies of the various towers; Black, Yellow, Blue & Red are some weird dudes.. dudettes.

The story revolves around Hawthorne (Apprentice Guardian at Gray Tower) (Gray Tower has not had a Lady for many years) and Yarrow who is newly appointed as Mother of Gray House. Both will head off on separate journeys to let the other Towers / Ladies know about the impending arrival of the Beast. That has been the function of the Gray Tower, that being to keep the Beast from breaching the West Passage and destroying all of the other houses. Hawthorne, as Guardian, is supposed to battle and defeat the Beast.

But Gray is a shadow of its former self. The Tower / House is basically empty and with Hawthorne and Yarrow leaving, will have only a basic few left to keep things going... and Winter is setting in!!!

Along their journeys, we'll meet so many interesting people, Frin the rabbit-eared Beekeeper at Black Tower who will become Hawthorne's Squire (even though neither knows what a Squire actually does) and Peregrine, the Itinerant Butler with his 'steed' (too hard to describe) Tertius, who will escort Yarrow on her journey.

Hawthorne and Yarrow are both fascinating characters (there is a fascinating change in Hawthorne when they assume the mantle of Guardian). Yarrow reminds me somewhat of the traveling monk in Becky Chambers' Monk and Robot books, that sort of gentleness she possesses... 

There is just so much going on in this story to try and decipher and explain logically. The best thing is to say it's wonderful, amazing and just so fascinating of a fantasy story. Rich, rich, rich. I hope that Jared Pechacek continues the at some time because I've got some questions!! (I have my idea of who Servant is, but .....) Check it out. Pure enjoyment (4.0 stars)"

2. Gideon's Press by J.J. Marric (Commander Gideon #19 / 1973). One of my favorite series. This also completes my 12 + 4 Dusty Book challenge. It was my 12th book.

"The Commander Gideon police procedural series has quickly become one of my favorites. Since then I've also enjoyed the standalone movie based on the series and the TV series that followed the books. It's nice to read about and see shows that reflect the police in such a positive light. Anyway, Gideon's Press (#19 in the series) written by J.J. Marric was somewhat familiar to me from the TV show but was nevertheless an excellent story.

Commander Gideon, head of London's CID is alone at home since wife Kate has gone off to visit one of his daughters. His other daughter, concert pianist, has also gone to take on job with a symphony that is touring Scotland. Penny also happens to be dating Gideon's #1, Alec Hobbs.

There are two story lines in this book; one following union strikes against London's newspapers and a threatened strike by dock workers. As well, there is a multi-service investigation taking place to catch smugglers who are illegally bringing in Pakistanis and Indians by sea. (As an aside, I found it interesting that this was a topic of interest back in the 70's but I was just a kid then)

Gideon will use the services of the press quite a bit in this story, which makes an interesting side story as we follow two reporters investigating the events taking place on the dockyard. We also have Inspector Homiwell diligently working the smuggling case, as he believes that the smugglers have deliberately sunk at least one boat filled with immigrants.

It's just a fascinating story as we move from one character to another, intricately tying them together and the main stories. Marric gets into the minds and the lives of each character and even bring back one from a previous story to see how his life has changed. The meetings with the press, the investigations by the reporters, the diligence of the police. It all makes up a great, fascinating, page turner and it all results in a satisfactory conclusion. Great series. (4.0 stars)"

3. Brave New World, A Graphic Novel by Aldous Huxley, adapted and illustrated by Fred Fordham (2022).

"Brave New World: A Graphic Novel by Fred Fordham is a graphic novelization of the original novel by Aldous Huxley (originally published in 1932). I've read the original novel a couple of times, once back in my university days as part of a Sci Fi novel course and again in 2016. When I compare it to 1984 and War of the Worlds and other Sci Fi novels, I think I preferred them.

However, Brave New World, both the novel and the graphic novel provide an interesting look at Huxley's view of a possible future for mankind, one where mankind is a caste system where people are created in test tubes, the lower classes are controlled; working 7.5 hours a day, and then spending their free time inn hedonistic activities and then falling asleep to Soma, a sleep drug. History, science, solitude are all frowned on. Old things are not good. Live for today, enjoy excess. There are alphas who create these rules but who can break them, read Shakespeare,  practice science, etc. Any others who do are sent to islands where they are isolated.

This story follows one man who feels alone, doesn't like the hedonism. He takes a vacation to the Savage Lands in New Mexico, along with his current 'girl friend.' There they meet John, a savage whose mother was once part of the new world, but abandoned by an Alpha who got her pregnant then left her there. She still remembers the old world of hedonism, drugs but is forced into this world of individuality and is basically shunned by the 'savages'. John is also caught in this duality.

They are both taken back to the 'city', somewhere in England. John's mother is a spectacle and basically lives in a Soma dream world at the hospital, waiting to die. John is shown around this new world and can't cope. 

It's an interesting concept and a fascinating story and Fordham explores it with thoughtfulness and care. I've enjoyed other adaptations by him and this one was also very interesting; well drawn and well presented...

This is the Brave New World as explained to John...

"In a properly organized society, nobody has any opportunities for being noble or heroic. There aren't any wars nowadays. The greatest care is taken to prevent you from loving anyone too much. There's no such thing as divided allegiance. No temptations to resist. And if ever, by some unlucky chance, anything unpleasant should somehow happen, why, there's always soma."

And how does John, the savage, cope with all of this??? Now you've got to read the book. (3.5 stars)"

Currently Reading

(My next 3 books will help me with my 12 + 4 Finish a Series challenge. I've got two of them on the go at the moment).

1. Maddie Hatter and the Timely Taffeta by Jayne Barnard (Maddie Hatter #3 / 2017).

"Maddie Hatter’s third Adventure finds her in Venice on an all-expenses-paid assignment: report on the season’s most extravagant Carnevale costumes. Determined to land an inside scoop, she enlists the help of her half-Venetian friend, Lady Serephene, to penetrate Madame Frangetti’s Costume Atelier in disguise.

Serephene is pursuing plots of her own: training in secret for a career that’s forbidden by her family, and flirting madly with a low-born Scottish inventor in his airship laboratory. When the inventor’s fabulous new fabric is targeted by industrial spies, Serephene risks not only her family’s displeasure but her own safety to protect him and his work.

Pursued through the floating city’s legendary canals and squares, Maddie must draw on all her hard-won survival skills to keep herself and Serephene out of the spies’ clutches. With the help of unexpected allies among Venice’s underdogs, the daring young ladies just might reach Carnevale’s grand finale alive."

2. The Other Wind by Ursula K. Le Guin (Earthsea Cycle #6 / 2001).

"The sorcerer Alder fears sleep. The dead are pulling him to them at night. Through him they may free themselves and invade Earthsea. Alder seeks advice from Ged, once Archmage. Ged tells him to go to Tenar, Tehanu, and the young king at Havnor. They are joined by amber-eyed Irian, a fierce dragon able to assume the shape of a woman. The threat can be confronted only in the Immanent Grove on Roke, the holiest place in the world, and there the king, hero, sage, wizard, and dragon make a last stand. In this final book of the Earthsea Cycle, Le Guin combines her magical fantasy with a profoundly human, earthly, humble touch."

New Books

(7 new books to talk about)

1. Tuck Everlasting, the Graphic Novel by K. Woodman - Maynard (2025). I've never read the original novel.

"What if you could live forever?

In this timeless story about immortality, friendship, and growing up, young Winnie Foster learns of a hidden spring in a nearby wood and meets the Tuck family, whose members reveal their astonishing discovery of the spring’s life-changing power. Now Winnie must decide what to do with her newfound knowledge—and the Tucks must decide what to do with her. But it’s not just the curious girl who is interested in their remarkable tale. A suspicious stranger is also searching for the Tucks, and he will stop at nothing until he finds them and uncovers their secret."

2. The Serial Garden by Joan Aiken (2008). Jo loved the book cover on this edition.

"A Junior Library Guild Selection and Smithsonian Magazine Notable Book for Children. "A literary treasure."—Philip Pullman "My happiest discovery this year."— Los Angeles Times The complete collection of twenty-four charming and magical Armitage family stories. Includes a prelude by the author and introductions from Garth Nix and Lizza Aiken."

3. Love and Rockets, Vol. 7; The Death of Speedy by Jaime Hernandez (1989).

"The original, seminal Love & Rockets comic book series, which ran for 50 issues from 1981 to 1996, singlehandedly defined the post-underground generation of comics that spawned Daniel Clowes, Chris Ware, and so many others. Now collected into 15 volumes, Love & Rockets is a body of work that The Nation has described as "one of the hidden treasures of our impoverished culture." Created by brothers Gilbert, Jaime, and Mario Hernandez, three Southern California Mexican-Americans armed with a passion for pop culture and punk rock, Love & Rockets gave a voice to minorities and women for the first time in the medium's then 50-year history and remains one of the greatest achievements in comic book history."

4. Them Bones by Howard Waldrop (1984).

"Madison Yazoo Leake, of the bombed-out, radiation-ridden 21st century, wanted to go back in time to stop World War III before it began. When he stepped through the time portal, he thought he was entering 1930s-era Louisiana. Instead, he found himself in a world where Arabs had explored America, Christianity and the Roman Empire had never existed, and Aztecs performed human sacrifices near the Mississippi as wooly mammoths roamed nearby..."

5. Dawn of the Firebird by Sara Mughal Rana (2025).

"Khamilla Zahr-zad’s life has been built on a foundation of violence and vengeance. Every home she’s known has been destroyed by war. As the daughter of an emperor’s clan, she spent her childhood training to maintain his throne. But when her clansmen are assassinated by another rival empire, plans change. With her heavenly magic of nur, Khamilla is a weapon even enemies would wield—especially those in the magical, scholarly city of Za’skar. Hiding her identity, Khamilla joins the enemy’s army school full of jinn, magic and martial arts, risking it all to topple her adversaries, avenge her clan and reclaim their throne.

To survive, she studies under cutthroat mystic monks and battles in a series of contests to outmaneuver her fellow soldiers. She must win at all costs, even if it means embracing the darkness lurking inside her. But the more she excels, the more she is faced with history that contradicts her father’s teachings. With a war brewing among the kingdoms and a new twisted magic overtaking the land, Khamilla is torn between two impossible vengeance or salvation."

6. The Sundial by Shirley Jackson (1958).

"Before there was Hill House, there was the Halloran mansion of Jackson’s stunningly creepy fourth novel, The Sundial. Aunt Fanny has always been somewhat peculiar. When the Halloran clan gathers at the family home for a funeral, no one is surprised when she wanders off into the secret garden. But then Aunt Fanny returns to report an astonishing vision of an apocalypse from which only the Hallorans and their hangers-on will be spared, and the family finds itself engulfed in growing madness, fear, and violence as they prepare for a terrible new world. For Aunt Fanny's long-dead father has given her the precise date of the final cataclysm!"

7. Bad Indians Book Club by Patty Krawec (2025).

"In this powerful reframing of the stories that make us, Anishinaabe writer Patty Krawec leads us into the borderlands of history, science, memoir, and fiction to What worlds do books written by marginalized people describe and invite us to inhabit?

When a friend asked what books could help them understand Indigenous lives, Patty Krawec, author of Becoming Kin, gave them a list. This list became a book club and then a podcast about a year of Indigenous reading, and then this book. The writers in Bad Indians Book Club refuse to let dominant stories displace their own and resist the way wemitigoozhiwag--European settlers--craft the prevailing narrative and decide who they are.

In Bad Indians Book Club, we examine works about history, science, and gender as well as fiction, all written from the perspective of "Bad Indians"--marginalized writers whose refusal to comply with dominant narratives opens up new worlds. Interlacing chapters with short stories about Deer Woman, who is on her own journey to decide who she is, Krawec leads us into a place of wisdom and medicine where the stories of marginalized writers help us imagine other ways of seeing the world. As Krawec did for her friend, she recommends a list of books to fill in the gaps on our own bookshelves and in our understanding.

Becoming Kin, which novelist Omar El Akkad called a "searing spear of light," led readers to talk back to the histories they had received. Now, in Bad Indians Book Club comes a potent challenge to all the stories settler colonialism tells--stories that erase and appropriate, deny and deflect. Following Deer Woman, who is shaped by the profuse artistry of Krawec, we enter the multiple worlds Indigenous and other subaltern stories create. Together we venture to the edges of worlds waiting to be born."

There you go. I hope there are a few reading ideas for you. Enjoy your December.